Puppies and Plumbing Oh My!

We have had a crazy few days in the Meyer household! Christmas was wonderful. We spent Christmas day with my family in South Bend and then returned to Indianapolis to visit with Jarrett's family on the 27th. On our way home we picked up the newest addition to our family - Madeline ("Maddie"). She is a 9-month old shetland sheepdog we adopted from the Greater Lafayette Sheltie Rescue. Maddie is absolutely precious. She is very shy and is very much in need of some structure in her life but we could not have asked for a more well behaved puppy. She still needs to learn the basic commands like sit, stay, etc, but she does know her name and to come when called. Amelia loves her. They are inseperable.

On top of a new puppy and crazy holiday fun, Jarrett and I decided that we would remodel our guest bathroom while we had some time off work. Thankfully my dad came down for the day and got us started in the right direction. It was our first tiling job and I must say it came out really well! This bathroom looks like it is going to be the nicest room in the house. I think it has given Jarrett more confidence in tackling a few more home improvement projects. We are planning to put all new floors in our house in the next year and with the exception of a small carpeted area we plan to keep, we are doing everything ourselves. So if anyone needs some tile work done, let me know! The only thing we decided not to do on our own was move some of the plumbing. I think it'll be the best $140 I've spent to not deal with sweating pipes and cutting copper. Yes, I'm sure I COULD do it if I wanted, but this is one I think we'll hire out.

5K's of Christmas

I had a wonderful run this morning. Jarrett, Cyndi, and I made it downtown and ran the 2nd Annual 5K's of Christmas. I finished in 29:30. This becomes a new 5K PR. The race was fun and we had the added bonus of getting to watch the RCA Dome implode. Although it sounds like it should have been awe inspiring, it really was a bit of a let down.

In other news - We are trying to adopt another sheltie. If we are approved, it looks like we may be able to bring her home just after Christmas :)

Now - Time to finish Christmas shopping!

Goals for 2009

I'm going to break this down into a few categories:

Short Term Goals:
1. Gym - 2 days a week - No excuses
2. Pool - 2 days a week - No excuses
3. Run - 5K's of Christmas this weekend and the 6-miler January 1st. I need a good run.
4. Frosty - 2 days a week, 3 if the weather holds out
5. Find shoes that don't give me wicked blisters. Seriously. I think my feet hate me.

Long Term Goals:
1. Toronto Marathon - October 18, 2009 - I'm one step closer. I have my passport photos and application ready to mail :)
2. Complete 2 half-marathons
3. Swim with confidence at my first triathlon
4. Complete a minimum of one race per month.

Here is my tentative race schedule for 2009:

1. Resolution Revolution - 6 miles - January 1
2. Mini Training Run - 5K - February 7
3. Mini Training Run - 10K - March 7
4. Circle of Life - IU Mini Marathon - 13.1 miles - April 4
5. 500 Mini Marathon - 13.1 miles - May 2
6. Out Run the Sun - June 5
7. Indy Sprint Tri Series - June 20
8. Morse Park Summer Triathlon - June 27
9. Indy Sprint Tri Series - July 18
10. Indianan Downs Triathlon - August 2
11. Tri Indy - August 16
12. Indy Sprint Tri Series - August 22
13. Go Girl Triathlon - September 5
14. TORONTO MARATHON - October 18
15. Drumstick Dash - November 26
16. Jingle Bell Run or 5K's of Christmas - December ??

Yes - This is a very rigorous schedule. I need this. I need to push myself to meet these goals. If I don't have something to train for, I stop training. I need the "next thing" to look forward to. I need to push myself to meeting my next goal. My goals with these events are simple. Finish in a time that I feel good about. I don't like to set speed goals. I feel like I set myself up to fail. Instead, my goal is to go to every race and cross the finish line saying, "I raced the best race I could today."

This schedule is also going to push me to my other goal this year. Leave work at work. Training time is my time. Sorry, I don't take cell phone calls at the gym, in the pool, or at the barn. Period.

525, 600 Minutes

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
Five hundred twenty-five thousand moments so dear
Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
How do you measure, measure a year?

These are the lyrics to one of my favorite songs, Seasons of Love, from the Broadway musical Rent. Today marked the one year anniversary of letting our beloved Shetland sheepdog Belle go to the Rainbow Bridge. It has been a long hard year. I know she is in a much better place now without pain and with all of the other animals we have loved and lost.

The picture is of Belle in her wagon. She suffered from terrible arthritis that kept her from being able to go on walks. My parents bought her a wagon so she could go for rides instead. She loved it so much.

I read a book this summer called Merle's Door: Lessons from a Freethinking Dog by Ted Kerasote. I highly recommend it to anyone who has lost a dearly loved animal or who just loves dogs. It is the beautiful celebration of Ted's dog Merle's life and death.

Measure your life in love

Snow!

So it is officially winter in Indiana. We had our first real snow yesterday. The roads were awful in the morning but got better as the day wore on.

Yesterday Jarrett turned 30. This historic milestone was marked by a nice day spent cruising the mall for deals and a wonderful dinner of sushi at our favorite sushi place, Tegry Bistro. We aren't really the birthday partying type of folks and since we don't get to spend enough time together a day with just the two of us was really nice. I got him a new iPod Nano to replace the one that was stolen out of his car last year. The fur kids got him movies. They love to snuggle and watch movies so it was appropriate they picked out a few favorite films for him, including Cars, Elf, and Nightmare Before Christmas. Now that I used all of my good ideas on his birthday presents I will have to think extra hard of a cool Christmas gift.

I have been super lazy since Thanksgiving. I haven't been to the gym or swam in ages. That will change this week. I'm traveling tomorrow so I plan to hit the hotel gym after I get in to PA. I will swim on Wednesday. I swear I'll do it. Seriously. I will. Swimming has been a total drag since it started to get cold. I just need to suck it up and go. Running is going to have to take place at the gym for pretty much the remainder of the winter. I managed to get pretty sick after running the Drumstick Dash on Thanksgiving in 20 degree weather. My lungs do not deal well with frigid air. Biking will also have to take place in the gym. I don't have a good place to set up a trainer in our house.

I wish everyone well this week :)

Gooble Gooble

Happy Black Friday! Please go spend money (please make it money that you have...no need to go into debt this holiday season) and help jump start the economy. Even better, if you can, donate to your favorite charity. Even a small donation will help. The fact that the economy is suffering puts a huge burden on charitable organizations. Either people choose not to donate because they do not have extra money or they are finding themselves reaching out to these charities for help that they have not sought in the past.

I am not participating in the "Biggest Shopping Day of the Year." Instead, I am at work. I am hot, sweaty, dirty, and tired. Sigh. The weather would have been perfect today for my 60 mile ride to Lafayette, but instead, I am at work. I cannot complain too much. I realize there are many people who are out of jobs at this time and I am fortunate enough to work in a business that keeps growing.

Thanksgiving was nice. Jarrett and I ran our annual Thanksgiving 4.5 miler in Broad Ripple. It was a frigid 26 degrees at the start of the race. I clocked a time of 43 minutes which equates to 9:55/mile. I didn't have a chip time because my chip got lost at some point before the race. I remember someone stepping on my foot as I milled through the crowd of 7, 000 but it never occurred to me that perhaps I should make sure my chip was still attached. Boo. All in all, the race was fun. I wasn't feeling great the first few minutes after the finish but I recovered quickly after getting a little bite of food in my stomach and a drink of water. I actually got too hot from wearing too many clothes. This is a huge issue with my cold weather runs. I am freezing while waiting for the start and the first half mile and then I get too hot. I guess I just need to suck it up and wear less clothes.

We spent the afternoon with Jarrett's family and then had a quiet evening at home with the animals. We adopted a cat from the Humane Society a few weeks ago and after having her declawed we are working on getting her acclimated to life with our sheltie, Amelia (Mimi). Mimi loves her kitty sister. Chloe the kitty, however, still isn't 100% sure Mimi isn't going to try something sneaky. They did manage to give each other kisses on the noses yesterday which was very cute.

Now I have to decide whether I am going to decorate for Christmas. I am not feeling the joy of the season this year. No one will be visiting our house to see our tree or festive decorations and honestly the dog and cat probably won't notice if there isn't a tree this year.

Brrrr....

I have a race this weekend. 10K. It's going to be cold. It's going to be raining. Sigh. I have had a great week of work outs. I went to Boot Camp on Tuesday morning and rode Frosty that evening. I even made it to the...gasp...GYM...today! I haven't been to the gym in MONTHS. Up until this week, the weather has been too nice to visit the hamster wheels at the gym. Food has been hit or miss. I really need to get back on track with my eating. I am a stress eater and work has, shall we say, been stressful for about the last...ummm year.

My latest and greatest scheme is to ride my bike from Indy to Lafayette the day after Thanksgiving. I have my route mapped and now I just need to verify all of the roads are paved. It's about a 60 mile ride from my house to my barn. :) I'm excited. I love my bike and this my be my last chance to get a really long road ride in before it gets too bitter cold to ride. Thanksgiving weather is fickle in Indiana. I remember Thanksgivings that it snowed and Thanksgivings we wore shorts. I will only do the ride if it is dry and warmer the 40. I'll let you all know how it goes!

Jarrett and I have decided we are more then likely going to do the Toronto marathon next year. Time to get serious and get those miles in!

2:16:11

I finished my second half marathon yesterday in 2:16:11. That is 39 minutes faster then my first half marathon in May! Awesome! I don't wear a watch, so I cannot give you splits and such interesting facts. I do know I was pacing a group of runners for the first 6 miles and I managed to finish those six in 49 minutes. If I had paced myself a little better, I would have been able to finish even faster. I was ahead of Jarrett until mile 11. He passed me on the the giant hill. I saw him and just could never quite catch up. I also learned that I do not like GU. I am going to have to figure something else out if I plan on doing a full marathon.

I think if I put some additional training in, I could finish a half marathon in under 2-hours. Even more importantly, I am convinced that I can finish a full marathon. They only thing that will hold me back is my feet. I did end up with wicked blisters on my arches and the end of two of the toes on my left foot. It may be time for a visit to the podiatrist and perhaps some custom orthotics.

Is it really only Monday? I feel like it should be Friday. I have spend WAY too much time at work in the last 14-days. I know its bad when I start having dreams about the place and wake up wondering if they were real.

The weekend was not a total loss. I organized a solid Saturday. I woke up early and rode my bike to work. It was a great ride. It was cold enough to break out the cold weather Under Armour. The ride was surprisingly fast. There was no traffic and although I left just before dawn, I felt comfortable in my reflective gear. Jarrett picked me up after a few hours of problem solving at the plant and we headed to West Lafayette to watch Purdue loose to Penn State. It was kind of sad. Then we headed to the barn to see Frosty. He was a very good boy and I am happy to say he has taken to his grazing muzzle quite well. No fussing or pulling at it.

My goals for this week:
1. Swim Wednesday and Thursday
2. Ride to work on Friday??? (I've got to check my morning calendar. If I have an early meeting it will spoil my plans)
3. Run - Seriously - I really need to run.
4. Stay on plan all week. I ate way too much this weekend. Pretzel and popcorn at the football game and a double cheeseburger and fries from Wendy's on Sunday night. My moment in indiscretion came after 12 hours of work, very little breakfast, no lunch, and an enormous amount of stress. Alas, it was good.

Have a wonderful week - I would be shocked if I am sane enough to write again before next week.

Fuzzy Wuzzy was a Frosty

I didn't race on Saturday. I slept. All day. It is now Wednesday and I am "almost" willing to say I feel better. I'm giving it another day to make sure the feeling lasts. I did manage to get out for a swim on Monday and I rode Frosty on Sunday and Tuesday. I'm pretty sure it was viral...low grade fever, headache, general malaise. My doctor pisses me off so I didn't bother with a visit to his office. I am changing doctors in 2009 due to his complete lack of focus when he sees me. Seriously, I paid this guy $120 for 3 minutes of his time. Alright, my insurance company paid him, but that is the kind of crap that is indicative of the health care crisis our country is in.

Below is a picture of us on Sunday. Frosty is F A T this year. The weather kept the grass growing all summer and he is a big piggy. How do you fix a fat horse? Grazing Muzzle! I just ordered Frosty's grazing muzzle from Schneider's. He will hate it for a few days, but eventually they adjust. I ride him as often as I can and still cannot keep the weight off, so this is the best alternative option. Yes, I am a cruel horse mother. Good thing the barn help will actually be the ones putting it on him and I'll be the nice mommy that rescues him from the evil muzzle when I get to see him. :) Seriously - It is not cruel. It is more inhumane to allow him to stay heavy and potentially cause sever damage to his feet and legs.



There are only 17 days until my half-marathon. Jarrett is in hard core training mode and I am in denial. I haven't run in two weeks. Besides feeling like total crap, my motivation has gone MIA. I will run this week. I will bike this week. I will ride this week. No more excuses.

Home Sweet Home

I'm back from Wisconsin. It was a business/pleasure trip. Jarrett and I stayed with his college roommate while I spent a few days visiting another one of our production facilities. It was excellent seeing old friends and catching up. The only downside is that I was VIOLENTLY ill. I seriously considered going to the hospital. The good news, I am feeling much better today and I even managed to go for a swim this evening.

Jarrett, Cyndi and I are running a 15K on Saturday and I have a riding clinic with a new instructor on Sunday. Wish us luck!

Butterflies and Backstrokes

Tonight was my last swim class at IUPUI. I have to say, even after a rough start, I actually enjoyed the class and will consider taking it again in a few months. I "mastered" (I use this term loosely) all of the strokes, including the butterfly. Butterfly actually turned out to be one of my strongest strokes! My instructor said that my form has improved on all of my strokes and that I really do have a natural inclaination towards swimming. My only problem...I go too fast. I am an excellent sprinter. I beat even the very experienced girls today in a little 50 freestyle race. So my focus is to sloooow it down. I also learned to dive! I have never dove in my life and it was very fun. My flipturns still need a ton of work. I have a depth perception issue and just never get quite close enough to the wall. I have the basic technique down, I just need to get better at spotting.

Bottom line - I can do this. I will not drown. I know how to swim. I can cut my swim time down by 5-7 minutes.

Jarrett and I managed to get a short ride in on our bikes on Monday. I love my aero bars. They do need a slight adjustment before I ride tomorrow, but it should be a quick fix.

The next big thing is nutrition. Jarrett has been really working hard on his running and has started to work nutrition into his long runs. I went to my favorite local running store, Athletic Annex and purchased a Fuel Belt. I love running with water and now I'll have a convient place to put some Gu or similar running yummies. I do tend to have some digestive issues, so I'm gong to have to practice before the half-marathon in October.

The other issue I am having is feeling constantly hungry. I modified my breakfast routine this week to have oatmeal before work instead of just eating a Fiber One Cereal Bar. It didn't help. Actually, I think I'm even more hungry and I eat twice as much food for breakfast. So far, I haven't seen a positive or negative impact on the scale. I know numbers aren't eveything, but I would LOVE to drop 10 more pounds. Sigh.

Accessories ROCK!

Jarrett brought my bike home from its 90-day tune up and I now have my own fancy-schmancy aero bars AND my bike computer I got for my b-day finally works :) I was starting to get bummed that the computer kept telling me I was only going 1 mph. I'm stoked to go on a ride tomorrow and try out my new accessories.

I made it to the barn today to visit my big furry four-legged kid. He is very fat and started out being a big lazy boy. He decided to change his mood after he figured out he was going to get to jump. The boy may be chunky, but he loves to jump! Sometime I'll post a video of us. He looks like a moose jumping. It's hilarious.

Work has been an absolutely crazy busy recently and the insanity is going to continue until after Thanksgiving. So, I scheduled some happy spa treatments over the next few months to help take away some of the stress. I've got a 60-minute massage next Thursday to look forward to!

It's only Tuesday?

Sunday I ran 8.3 miles with Jarrett and Cyndi. Monday was swim class. Class was okay. We had another new instructor. She was working with the people who don't really know how to swim so the rest of the girls in the class decided to try and learn flip turns. I was okay, but I still need a ton of practice. I missed my Tuesday riding lesson due to a late work meeting, but I did manage to reschedule for tomorrow. Instead of riding, I mowed the grass and went to the Avon pool for a nice swim. I hit the water for about 45-minutes. I've decided to stop counting distance for awhile and just swim for a set period of time. I'll work on the distance later.

I did purchase Sally Edward's book, Triathlon's for Women at Half-Price Books last weekend. I'm only part way through it and she definetly has some good tips. I guess the biggest take away is that I really should purchase a hear rate monitor. She is a huge advocate of training with them. I think I want a Polar F11, but I still cannot convince myself to drop $150.

Mission Accomplished!

I completed my very first and hopefully not last triathlon this morning. The experience was two-fold: absolutely terrifying and exhilarating.

Jarrett and I got up at 5:30 am and took care of feeding Mimi and got ready to roll. I packed all of my gear except my bike the night before so I wouldn't be running around searching for stuff well before the crack of dawn. I had my traditional pre-race breakfast: 1 Lite Multi-grain Thomas English Muffin with raspberry jam, a banana, and a lot of water. We left about 6:15 for Eagle Creek and a short car ride later arrived at the park.



Transition was set-up by entry number. My number was 49 so I had a prime location. I was in a rack with a bunch of experienced tri girls with cool tricked out bikes. At the pre-race meeting I met a cool girl named Liza who just finished Navy Officer Corp training two weeks ago. She happened to have the same race outfit as me so we hung out and chatted for awhile before the race started. The pre-race instructions were pretty standard. They reviewed the rules and wished us well.



We headed down to the edge of the reservoir to begin the swim. The water was about 75 degrees this morning, which was significantly warmer then the air temperature. When we started it was around 58 degrees and when we finished it was only about 68. There was no humidity or wind, so conditions were perfect. We did a beach wave start and I was in the first group to go. This was my one race to compete in the 18-29 age group. Next season I'll be in the 30-39 age group. The announcer called for us to start and we were off. The course was very straight forward. 200 meters out, turn right at the big yellow buoy, 100 meters straight, turn right at the other big yellow buoy, and 200 meters home. The swim was a struggle for me. I panicked about 100 meters out and could not convince myself to stick my head underwater. I did manage to make it using some creative strokes, but I was super slow. It took me at least 20 minutes to complete the swim. I seriously considered at least twice quitting, but with the encouragement of several of the wonderful volunteers, I made it back to the beach.

Transition 1 was okay. After I got done with the swim, I was a little disoriented but managed to get back to the bike and get geared up. I was slightly slow due to the amount of crude I had to try and get off my feet before putting on my shoes. I grabbed my bike and headed for the bike start. The start was good, except the girl who got on right in front of me fell over. I'm not sure why, it was really strange and I think she actually may have passed out or something. A volunteer helped her back up and I was on my way.



The bike was great. I love my bike. I love riding my bike. I got to pass a bunch of people and that made me feel better. There were a couple of hills to tackle and the race course was fast, fast, fast. I used the 10 mile back to regain my focus.



Transition 2 was uneventful. I always get this weird vertigo thing when running after getting off the bike, but today it was very mild and I shook it off after a few strides.

The run rocked. I am shocked at how much my running has improved this summer. It was an easy 3 miles and I'm pretty sure I managed to maintain around an even 10 minute mile. I ran the entire thing, minus the water stops.



I ran to the finish with the clock at 1:40:24. I can't say I'm proud of the time, but I am proud that I finished. I had every opportunity to give up during the swim and call it a day, but I didn't. This is just a number that I can work to improve next season!

More swimming fun

I was back at the Natatorium for swim lessons on Wednesday. I was pleasantly surprised that the class had shrunk and both instructors were absent. It turns out that four of us called and complained about the lack of experience of the instructors and the inexperienced members of the group. The program director ended up teaching our class and told us that one of instructors quit because she couldn't teach adults (she was only 16) and the other girl was moved to a toddler class. The four guys who couldn't swim ended up quitting. That left the 6 girls who can swim and a competent instructor! I found out that I was over-reaching which was causing me to expend more energy then necessary. I also worked on rolling my hips and breathing from both sides. I had already identified those weaknesses and she gave me a few training tips to work on. I will not be the best swimmer on Saturday, but I'm confident I will in fact finish the 500M swim.

Work has been GRUELING this week and there is no end in sight to the insanity. I'm just going to have to suck it up and stay focused on leaving work at work and not let it get me down.

I'll post some pictures (provided Jarrett remembers the camera) after the race and provide a full report. The goal for this weekend is to finish. After I get the first one under my belt, I'll set some time goals to keep me motivated.

Tick tock goes the tri clock

It has been a busy few weeks! After my sub-spectacular swim last week, I headed to Chicago on business. I love the city and it was nice to get away from work for a few days while getting my learn on at a class at University of Chicago. Needless to say, I ate WAY too much and worked out WAY too little last week.

I did manage to redeem myself with a 4-mile run on Monday evening and an enjoyable day with my horse on Sunday.

The countdown has begun: 3 days until tri-day! I received my packet in the mail on Saturday and was bummed to read that the swim may be cancelled due to rampant blue-green algae in the reservoir. They will make the official decision later this week and if we get the rain predicted, the swim may very well happen.

Now on to bigger things - My first marathon! Jarrett and I decided we are going to run our first marathon next fall. He wants the first big race to be a "destination" race. I've narrowed it down to a few. Feel free to weigh-in on which we should choose!

ScotiabankToronto Marathon - Toronto, ON - September - Why Toronto? I LOVE CANADA :)

Whistle Stop Marathon - Ashland, WI - October - We have friends in Wisconsin and it is one of my favorite states to visit.

ING New York City Marathon - NY, NY - November - I've never been to NYC and racing seems a great excuse to go.

So there are like a million more to choose from. If you have a favorite...that is not the Boston (I'm WAY too slow to qualify) send it my way!

Seriously?

I was so excited. Tonight was my first swim lesson at IUPUI. Let me put it bluntly...IT SUCKED! I enrolled in an intermediate class with the description "Must know a minimum of two strokes and have basic water skills. The focus will be on stroke development." OR NOT! We floated for 30 minutes and then the instructor told us to just "Do whatever" for the last 15 minutes of class while she chatted with her friend the other incompetent instructor. So, I swam a 600 in a pool that was 82 nasty degrees and then drove my ass home from downtown. I am not happy and someone will hear my wrath tomorrow as I demand my money back. One of the instructors actually did not know how to do the side stroke. She had to ASK someone else. Seriously?!

Water, water everyhere

I had a pretty decent, if not incredibly busy weekend. I went to see Frosty on Friday and had a very lovely ride. Jarrett and I are going to make a very conscious effort to ride him as often as possible while the weather remains nice.

Saturday morning I went down to the White River and learned to water ski. Yes, I water skied on the river. It was actually a great place to learn. The water was warm and there was no chop to deal with. I made it to my feet on the 3rd pull! I can check one more item off my list of things to do before I'm 30.

Sunday I went to work for awhile and did some grocery shopping. Jarrett and I relaxed for a bit until it was time to head back to Lafayette for his riding lesson. Frosty was a good boy for me while we worked on some flat work. The bad part was him snapping his bridle. Alas, it was a cheapo ebay bridle and I'm not terribly sad to see it go.

Today I signed up for swimming lessons at the IUPUI Natatrium. Lessons start next Monday and meet on Monday and Wednesday nights. I signed up for the intermediate class because I do know how to swim, I just suck. This will be a good adventure for me. Not only am I going to have to go attempt not to make a fool of myself in the water, I will also have to drive downtown. We have lived in Indy for 4 years and I have only driven downtown by myself twice. Even more nerve racking, next week I have to drive to Chicago for a training class and will have drive in downtown Chicago. AAGGGHHH!

Jarrett and I rode our bikes to the pool tonight and I swam about 800 meters. I have a riding lesson tomorrow and plan to swim and run on Wednesday.

Swimming.. :(

The pool is my friend....the pool is my friend....the pool is my friend. Maybe if I keep repeating these words it will become true! It is not that I don't like swimming, I do. I just don't like feeling like I'm a rock. I swam on Monday and again today and both sessions I felt like I was in some sort of fight to stay afloat. I have GOT to get a grip on this before the tri!

1:00:35

Jarrett, Cyndi, and I ran the ISO Circle the City 10K race this morning...and I KICKED ASS! I finished in 1:00:35. This is a huge personal best for me. My last 10K was 1:07:55. I actually felt like a real runner today. I am honestly still in shock with my time.

More later...must go to work :(

11Things About Me

Sara inspired me to share a peek into my life. I don't have the patience to come up with 100, so I'll start with 11:

1. I met my husband Jarrett at Purdue. We were in the Purdue "All-American" Marching Band together. He played trombone and I played clarinet. We marched next to each other in the famous "Block P" formation our sophomore year.
2. I had mono in college. It was horrible and I swear I've never been the same since.
3. My favorite book is From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. It is a novel by E. L. Konigsburg that won the Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature in 1968.
4. I miss my dog Belle every day. She was the sweetest most loving animal ever.
5. My job involves unimaginable quantities of baked goods. No, I don't eat them and yes I wear a hairnet.
6. I hate to drive.
7. Pink is my favorite color followed closely by red and blue.
8. I want to own a hobby farm. I have no interest in making money, but I would love to raise goats, chickens, and cows and have room to keep Frosty.
9. I love to read. I rarely have time to sit down and enjoy a book, but when I do, I finish them in record time.
10. I would love to someday live in Wisconsin, Canada, or Ireland.
11. I am very impatient.

Is it Friday yet?

The weekend was fun! Jarrett and I went to cheer on some of our horsey friends at a competition on Saturday. This competition was a USEA sanctioned event and a little pricey for my taste. I decided to sit it out this year. Frosty and I show for fun. We are never going to be nationally ranked. Competing at a recognized event brings with it a different atmosphere. The schooling shows I did this year were fun. They are meant for riders of all ages and levels to learn and receive constructive criticism. Sanctioned events are much more intense. There are LOTS of rules. You have to wear certain clothing. You can't use certain tack on your horse. You are subjected to random drug testing (of the horse, not the rider!). The judging is less constructive and sometimes down right mean. At this point, it looks like we are done showing for the season. Jarrett and I hope to make a trip down to Kentucky in late August with our barn mates to school at some of the cool cross country complexes in horse country. We may even get to ride the Rolex course.

Sunday we ran! I haven't done a long run in awhile, so we were a little slow. We did go 6.2 miles and I didn't feel like total crap on Monday. So I've got that going for me! I did get a blister on my right foot, but I am going to try a few different things this weekend at the ISO race. I've been using Body Glide and maybe I need to skip it.

I also had a fantastic ride on Sunday! I had not seen Frosty in like 9 days so he was pretty full of himself. We decided to release his pent up energy by working on jumping and he had a blast. It just reminds me if I had the time to ride him every day what kind of a talent he would be.

Monday I went to the pool and did 2000 meters followed by a 1.5 mile cool down run. The pool was a little on the warm side. The other gentleman swimming laps agreed that it felt like we were actually swimming in a hot tube instead of a pool. I was very pleased that the nice life guard let the two of us have an extra half hour of lap swim time while they got the pool ready for water aerobics. I've already made a mental note to bake the kid cookies.

Work is total chaos this week and I feel like it should be Friday by now. Alas, it is only going to be Wednesday. I have a lovely Wednesday evening bike ride to look forward to followed by a Thursday swim/run and a Friday rest day. Saturday is a 10K. I'll be sure to update you with my slow ass times ;) I may be slow, but at least I'm out there doing it!

What a week! I went to visit my parents in South Bend for a nice long weekend. Mimi (Amelia - our sheltie) and I made a girls weekend of the trip and left Jarrett in Indy to enjoy sprawling in the bed without a wife kicking him and Mimi trying to hog the bed.

Saturday was wonderful. Mom and I went shopping and she bought me new running shoes for my birthday. :) I went to Metro Run and Walk in South Bend and the owner fitted me with new Brooks. They are the same style I've been wearing but they felt better then any of the others I tried on. I have incredibly flat feet and my right foot is signficantly more narrow then my left. Brooks actually has an option to pay a little extra and they will sell you two shoes in different widths or sizes. I may take them up on this option next time if I continue to get blisters. I also bought my tri suit! It's pink!


Sunday was nice and relaxing. My parents took me to dinner at a wonderful little local place that serves the best prime rib.

Monday we went to Lake Michigan to visit some family who were renting a cabin on the lake for the week. It was nice seeing the family and the weather and water was beautiful. It also gave me a chance to do a little open water swimming. That went....okay. I'll admit it makes me a bit nervous to swim far out in the lake.

Tuesday I made the trek back to Indy. No tickets this time! It was also my birthday. I am now 29. I thought I'd give you my list of things I hope to accomplish in the next year:

1. Complete my first triathlon (September 6, 2008)
2. Complete two more half-marathons (October 18, 2008 and May 2009)
3. Complete the Eagle Creek Sprint Tri Series (June, July, August 2009)
4. Sign-up for a full marathon (either Chicago or the Indianapolis Marathon)
5. Travel abroad
6. Visit a new state
7. Get another Sheltie
8. Improve my riding skills and compete at a few local shows
9. Stay active and healthy
10. Be a good person

Lovely weather for a ride!

10.5 miles in 45 minutes. Traffic was heavy and I had to stop at 7 stop lights/signs. Not too shabby!

The triathlon ride is 10 miles and I know I can do it in less then 40 minutes. The roads at Eagle Creek are much smoother and race situations always make me go a little faster. I do need to take the bike to the shop and have my gears looked at. Shifting from the big wheel in front down is really rough. I almost always over shift and drop it to the small gear and there is a little grinding going on down there...

Warning: Food Content Ahead

I read Sarah's blog yesterday and felt the need to share my own foods laced with crack:

1. Diet Crack..I mean Coke - I have weaned myself to a mere two 12 oz cans a day.

2. Cheap Mexican from my favorite hole-in-the-wall with questionable sanitation :) I always order the same thing: #16 with a cheese enchilada.

3. Ruffles

4. Oreo's - I literally have not had an Oreo in 3 years because there is NO WAY I can control myself around them. If purchased, they will be devoured in no more then two sittings.

5. Cinnamon Toast Crunch - In a former life, I may in fact have devoured half a box of this crack laced creation for dinner...Hey, I'm not proud of it!

The bad thing is last night I had the vivid dream about Dairy Queen Thin Mint Blizzards. I woke up at 3:00 am to take care of the dog and could not stop thinking about them. I have never experienced a food dream before so I'm hoping they go away. For all you peeps who know what I do for a living...donut nightmares don't count! ;)

I did work out last night:

Swim: 650 meters

Run: 2 miles

We cheated and drove to the pool because Jarrett and I got home so late from work. I probably will ride my bike for awhile tonight since it is a beautiful day in central Indiana.

What a week!

I had a pretty decent week.

Monday - Working dinner - We went to Rick's Boatyard and I had the Divers Scallops. The food was okay, but not fabulous.

Tuesday - Barn - My riding lesson was pretty good. Frosty is improving and we keep making small breakthroughs ever week.

Wednesday - Pool - Jarrett and I rode our bikes to the pool and swam for about 30 minutes. The workout was good and my swimming is improving.

Thursday - Rest - Thursday's are ROUGH for me. By Thursday work has officially kicked my butt. I ended up coming home and going to bed at 7:00 pm.

Friday - Pool - We rode to the pool again and swam around 40 minutes. I was pretty tired by the time we were done but the ride home was strong.

Saturday - Barn - Jarrett and I took a lesson together. His riding is starting to improve. :)

Sunday - Tour de Brownsburg - I needed to go to work for awhile today so I decided that I would ride my bike. I rocked the ride! It's about a 14 mile ride from our house to work and I have to traverse a horrible section of state highway. The ride into town was uneventful and pleasant. There was hardly any traffic at 9:00 on a Sunday. The ride home, however, was a little more intense. I had a lovely black Ford F-350 attempt to run me off the road while cursing at me. I kept my cool and had a nice laugh when they ended up sitting at a red light while I cruised up behind them. I smiled.

My goal for this week is to get a few runs in. I also need to get some new shoes to start breaking them in for the triathlon and decide what I'm going to wear for the race. I have yet to figure out exactly what kind of tri outfit I'll be most comfortable in. If you have any suggestions blogosphere - give me a holler!

Spinning Wheel

I got to try out my new tires today! Jarrett decided I needed to upgrade my bike tires to something a little more durable. The roads in our area are less then pristine and the tires that came with my bike just could not take the abuse. I'm going to reserve judgement until I ride over to my pal Cyndi's place this weekend, but on my little 11 mile jaunt to the pool and back, they survived.

Ahh...the pool. My nemesis. I learned to swim as a child, and evidently have learned to sink as an adult. Seriously, I do not recall being such a poor swimmer. I did 650 meters in roughly 24 minutes. 90% of the time I was doing the breast stroke. Not the fast stroke in world, but at least I don't feel like I'm totally out of breath the entire time I'm in the pool.

I am going to attempt to go to the barn tomorrow night.

Yawn

I am really tired after a super busy weekend. The horse show was great. I had a wonderful time and ended up with a 5th place ribbon. We had a bobble on the cross country course when Frosty ran out on jump #10. He saw the jump but spooked at the jump judge sitting in a lawn chair that was initially out of his line of sight when we turned the corner. Stadium jumping was completely clean and I got the best dressage score I have ever had. All in all, a positive experience.

I managed to drag myself to the pool today for a nice swim. It was around 600 meters. I had to call it quits a little early because I was starving and it was getting pretty late.

Work it girl!

I had a mostly lovely workout this evening. I rode my bike to the pool (5 miles). I was pleasantly surprised that the drivers this evening were courteous and other then a wicked head wind slowing me down, I rather enjoyed my ride. I swam for about 35 minutes. I did (x meters). Honestly, I have no idea how far I swam. I swam until I was tired and the pool started to get crowded. I have issues remembering to count things or watch times. I then ran for 1.5 miles on the Avon Intermediate School track. It was nice and cushy! I finished by biking the 5 miles home. Okay...almost biking 5 miles home. I blew another tire tube turning onto 100N. I am starting to get really pissed. This is the 3rd tube since I bought the bike two weeks ago! Yes - I checked my tire pressure before I started my ride. No - I did not hit any holes or anything silly like that. Needless to say, I will be going back to the bike shop on Wednesday to get a new tube and find out what the heck is going on.

Do I still follow WW?

"Do you still follow WW?"

This is the question posed by fellow blogger Michelle. The answer is, yes and no.

Yes: I still count my points, although it’s more of a mental tally then a true journal. I journal when I'm having issues or need to get back on plan. I basically eat the same thing every day for breakfast and lunch. The only meal I really change is dinner. This type of plan does NOT work for everyone! Most people would get bored eating the same thing basically everyday for the last two years. I, on the other hand, like my little routine. I eat a 3-point cereal bar for breakfast and a piece of fruit. For lunch I have yogurt with cereal (2 points), a micro meal of some variety (4-6 points), and sugar-free Jell-O (0 points). I do get creative with dinner; however, I will be the first to admit that in a pinch I run for my Trader Joe's 94% FF black bean burritos (8 points).

No: I have not attended a WW meeting in a looonnnnnggg time. I am not currently "paying" WW for any of their services. I like to think of myself as self-sufficient and basically cheap. I also have the privilege of having my own personal WW leader, Cyndi, at my disposal :) Cyndi is a wonderful friend and inspirational WW leader. If you are in the Indianapolis area, go to her meetings....or I will kick you ;)

Yes: I exercise regularly. Actually, now that I think about it, I exercise more now then when I was attending meetings and actively trying to loose weight. Go me!

No: I do not regularly get in my oils (if I do great, if not...tough), or take a multi-vitamin. I really have never been a fan of multi-vitamins and even after trying children's chewable have found myself completely incapable of actually remembering or wanting to take the stupid things.

WW is truly a change in life style. I know for a fact that I will have to be very careful about what I eat for the rest of my life. I honestly don't think there is a picture of me from the time I was 5 until I turned 27 that I'm not the chubby kid or the fat adult.

The other question that has been posed to me recently is "Why are you doing a triathlon? Isn't that a lot of work?"

My answer to you: Because I want to. I don't HAVE to do a triathlon. I don't NEED to do a triathlon. I want to do a triathlon. It is to prove to myself and no one else that I can do this. Ummm.."Isn't it a lot of work?" Yeah...it is. And yes, I have a busy life style. I work a lot and I play a lot. I am very lucky that my husband enjoys participating in the same things I am interested in and we can spend time together running, cycling, swimming, and enjoying our animals

It's official!

I officially signed up for the first Go Girl Triathlon on September 6th. It Indianapolis' first women's only triathlon. The distances are 500 meter swim, 10 mile bike and 3 mile run. The event will be held at Eagle Creek Park.

Now that it's official, the serious training begins. Jarrett and I went for a nice 10 mile ride at Eagle Creek last night, however, it was a bit leisurely. We were having too much fun enjoying the scenery and I am still getting the hand of down shifting the new bike. I know I can finish the tri at my current fitness level, but if I want to actually push myself, I need to train harder and build up my endurance.

Here are my training plans for this week:

Sunday - Barn - Dressage work
Monday - Bike (4.5 miles), Swim (500 meters), Run (1 mile), Bike (4.5 miles)
Tuesday - Barn - Show Jumping and X-Country Intervals
Wednesday - Swim (1000 meters), Run (1 mile)
Thursday - Barn
Friday - Run...maybe - I will be at Johnson County Park for the weekend and I may try to squeeze in a very short run.
Saturday - Horse Show :)
Sunday - Rest and Visit friends

I hope everyone enjoys the holiday week!

I'm back!

Alright, this has been a very busy year and I put my blog away until today. I will spare you the details of what has been happening in my life for the last 349 days and just give you the highlights.

My weight loss story has a happy ending! I made my Weight Watchers goal sometime in September. I have lost an additional 10 pounds (my "buffer") and only had one gain (darn you Disney World!). Here are a few before and after pictures:

Disney 2006


Disney 2006



Disney 2008

I am now moving towards a new fitness goal. I will be competing in my first triathlon September 6, 2008. It is a sprint triathlon with a 500 meter swim, 10 mile bike, and 3 mile run. I started training about a month ago at the gym. Jarrett and I found a pool at Avon Intermediary School East to train the swim and Jarrett bought me a beautiful and super fast race bike for our anniversary!


The bike is a Trek 1.2. I decided to get clipless pedals and shoes straight away to give me the best chance to ride as effectively as possible. We rode almost 25 miles the first day we had the bikes and it was a blast!

Jarrett started a new job in May in downtown Indy. He is very happy with his career change. It was an extra bonus that his new office is only 11 miles from our house as compared to 26 with his old job. I will admit that I generally have no idea what he is talking about when he starts talking about computer programming, but I do know it makes him happy!

My horse Frosty is doing very well. We competed in a show in April and ranked 3rd in the "Green as Grass" adult division. We were disqualified from the 2" division due to me falling off. No, it was not Frosty's fault. It was mine. I was jumping ahead and he refused a fence and I popped over his shoulder. If I had been in the correct position, I could have pushed him over the fence or at least not lost my balance when he refused. As with everything in life, a lesson was learned and according to my trainer, I have vastly improved my body position and am much more conscious of not riding too far forward to jumps. We have a show on July 5, so we will see how are hard work over the last few months has paid off. It is a 3-day event (cross country, show jumping, and dressage) all crammed into one day.

The saddest part of the past 349 days was December 15. Our beloved Shetland Sheepdog, Belle, lost her fight with cancer. She was my first dog and I will never forget her. She truly loved everyone. Her little "sister" Amelia still misses her greatly and so do Jarrett and I.

In the future, expect to see a lot of training posts as I get in shape for the Go Girl Triathlon. Wish me luck!

Monday, June 16 - Gym - 5 mile Run, 5 mile Bike, Free Weights - 1.25 hours
Tuesday, June 17 - Barn - Show Jumping - 1 hour
Wednesday, June 18 - Swim - 500 meters - 1 hour - Jarrett was helping me "remember" how to swim!
Thursday, June 19 - Swim - 1200 meters - 40 minutes
Friday, June 20 - Bike - 2.2 miles around the neighborhood - We bought our bikes and I was teaching myself to use my cool new pedals and shoes.
Saturday, June 21 - Bike - 24.4 miles
Sunday, June 22 - Barn - Cross Country - 1 hour